Overview & History

Fern Bluff Neighborhood

The Fern Bluff MUD encompasses approximately 701 acres of land, is located approximately 16 miles north of central downtown City of Austin and 3 miles west of the City of Round Rock and is within the Round Rock Independent School District; the Fern Bluff Elementary School is within the MUD boundaries. The District includes two non-contiguous areas, both lying North of FM 620. There are three neighborhoods: Stone Canyon with 1101 homes, Fern Bluff with 274 homes and Oak Brook with 501 homes (in the non-contiguous area) with a grand total of 1876 homes within the MUD.

The Fern Bluff Municipal Utility District was created by an order of the Texas Water Commission (predecessor to the TCEQ) dated June 10, 1986 and was confirmed at an election held within the District on June 30, 1986. The rights, powers, privileges, authority and functions of the District, including the authority to issue bonds, are established by the general laws of the State of Texas pertaining to utility districts, particularly Chapters 49 and 54 of the Texas Water Code and Chapter 1207 of the Texas Government Code.

A Municipal Utility District (MUD), like a school district, is a government entity and is empowered to levy and collect property taxes, charge for authorized services and adopt and enforce rules and regulations as appropriate to accomplish the purposes for which the District was created. A MUD is also empowered to purchase, construct, operate, and maintain all public works, improvements, facilities and plants necessary for the supply and distribution of water; the collection and transportation and treatment of wastewater; and the control and diversion of storm water.

The Fern Bluff, Our Namesake

A MUD is also empowered to establish, operate and maintain parks and recreational facilities for the inhabitants of the district. The Fern Bluff MUD is proud of its extensive park, trail and greenbelt system which includes six large parks with tennis courts and pavilions and greenbelts with natural springs, extensive landscaping with a new Wildflower Program and a nationally certified Butterfly/Pollinator Garden.  District hike and bike trails join to Williamson County’s Brushy Creek Regional Trail System.

The Fern Bluff Municipal Utility is governed by a five member board of directors elected by the taxpayers of the district.  Monthly meetings are held in the district’s community center and the public is invited and encouraged to attend.

On September 21, 2015, our district was recognized as a Superior Public Water System (PWS) by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The Fern Bluff MUD hosts a beautiful bluff on Hairy Man Road (County Road 174) which is home to the Maidenhair Fern.  This bluff is responsible for the naming of the Fern Bluff MUD, the Fern Bluff Neighborhood and the Fern Bluff Elementary School.

The Maidenhair Fern, “Adiantum capillus-veneris,” is characterized by the thin and polished, black colored main leaf stalk with fan-like leaflets which are held up by the stalks and are as fine as human hair.  The bluff is the ideal environment for Maidenhair Fern because it is damp and shaded with an abundance of limestone in the soil.  The fern has a water repelling compound on its leaves which keeps its foliage completely dry, even when submerged under water, which is were it gets the Greek name, Adiantum, or “unwetted.”

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